East Central Reporter

Former state school employee Madonna Rhodes, who retired in January 2017, saved $68,875 toward a pension over 20 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Rhodes would collect as much as $897,057, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Rhodes received $18,855 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Rhodes will have already received $78,884 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.